Walking back to my car
in a small lot near the post office,
I notice the building where Paul used to live
years ago as a young bachelor —
remember how I didn't knock one time
because I saw him through the glass
making out with someone on the couch.
Of course that was before his
marriage and rough divorce, before
his two grown kids were even born.
As I walk toward the building and the car,
Paul might still be in there
as a young man making out — or he might not.
The building will forever be
a landmark in my world,
arising from the blankfaced ones
nearby, calling my name.
Once something's happened
to make a place significant,
significance remains.
I walk across the span of decades
to my car and drive away
as around us, galaxies
a thousands times the size of ours
whirl in cold, dark space:
here alone is all we've known,
the warm hearth-fires of
this Earth that we call home.
Max Reif
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-bridge-over-time-and-space/
